The present invention relates to an elevator maintenance driving apparatus located separately from a control panel or a hoisting machine of an elevator for maintenance driving of the elevator.
Conventionally, elevator maintenance driving operations can easily be carried out because a machine room is provided separately from a hoistway in which a car that passengers get on is provided, and because a hoisting machine, a control panel and other main operating components to be operated during maintenance operations are installed in the machine room, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 10-59635, which is a publication of a Japanese Patent Application. Also, it is described that when maintenance driving operations are required for maintenance operations in the hoistway, maintenance operations can easily be carried out by only one operator in the hoistway without any operator in the machine room by providing a driving control panel on the car.
In recent elevators, the number of devices conventionally disposed in the machine room, that are disposed in the hoistway and not in the machine room, has increased, because of need for efficient and economical utilization of building spaces. It is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 8-40665, which is a publication of a Japanese Patent Application, that a hoisting machine is placed in a hoistway, and a control panel is integrally mounted in a landing door unit installed at an opening of the hoistway. When maintenance of this elevator is performed, a portion of a landing door is opened, the control panel therein is operated, and an operating component, e.g., the hoisting machine provided close to a window provided in the vicinity of the control panel to enable access to the inside of the hoistway is directly operated through the window.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 2-95692, which is a publication of a Japanese Patent Application, discloses, with respect to an elevator having a control panel also placed in a hoistway, an arrangement in which an inspection driving switch is provided in an elevator hall separately from the control panel to perform maintenance driving operations in the hall. Also, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 10-87206, which is a publication of a Japanese Patent Application, discloses an example of an elevator in which a maintenance operations changing switch is provided in an inner portion of a hall button accommodation unit mounted in a hall jamb.
Accordingly, in maintenance operations for recent elevators without the machine room, since main operating components are installed in the hoistway, an operator enters the hoistway and performs operations for maintenance of the main operating components while the car moves in the same hoistway. In such a situation, it is necessary for the operator to be specially careful about safety. In particular, in the case of inspection or repair when the car is disabled from moving, it is difficult even to access operating components to be checked. In some cases, main operating components are placed in the vicinity of the landing door as described in the above-mentioned publication. In such a case, however, it is necessary that the operating components are concentratedly disposed in such a place as to be accessible from the landing door, thereby reducing the variance of placement of the components. Although, it is also disclosed that some of maintenance switches are provided in the hall by being separated from the corresponding main operating components to be operated for maintenance driving, it is necessary for an operator to operate the car under the eyes of the movement of the car. Therefore, a restriction is imposed on the selection of the place in which the operating switches are mounted.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. The present invention enables maintenance driving operations without entering a hoistway such that a maintenance operation panel for operating main operating components is provided in the vicinity of an elevator hall without specially limiting the location to a jamb at the hall, the maintenance operation panel including a device capable of ascertaining the movement of an elevator car, and a device for releasing a brake, the maintenance operation panel being operated in maintenance operations. A face plate of the maintenance operation panel is also used as a face plate attached with hall call buttons. That is, the maintenance operation panel is covered with devices ordinarily required at the hall to be prevented from impairing the hall design.